Investigation continues into deaths of women

LAPEER — The investigation continues by the Lapeer Police Dept. to learn more about the circumstances that killed two women of a suspected drug overdose at a downtown Lapeer apartment.

Vicki Rosencrantz, 59, and her daughter Jody Clark, 43, were found dead a week ago today (Nov. 5) at an apartment in the 100 block of West Nepessing. Autopsies were performed Tuesday morning at McLaren Lapeer Region. Toxicology tests to determine what substances were in their bodies could take anywhere from two to four weeks to complete.

Meanwhile Det./Sgt. Craig Gormley is continuing to interview people who knew the deceased that may be able to help him track where the suspected drugs may have come from and to get a better understanding of the women’s lives and who they associated with.

“It’s still in the beginning stage. There’s still evidence to be submitted to labs for examination,” Gormley said, to make sure the controlled substances that may have been ingested does not contain fentanyl or carfentanil. “That would be a fear of ours to make sure some kind of controlled substance didn’t contain those things. It’s really hard to say at this point, but we haven’t had any other overdoses that might suggest there was some connection. We’re thankful for that.”

Carfentanil is a powerful derivative of fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic analgesic produced from morphine. While fentanyl is about 100 times more powerful than morphine, carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl — meaning it is 10,000 times more potent than morphine.

In incidents of a suspected overdose, Gormley said there may be two scenarios. “You might have people who overdose because they don’t know what they’re doing, that may never have used a particular drug before or you might have people that are more experienced and may have thought they knew what they were dealing with,” said Gormley. “Either way it’s a horrible tragedy to have two people die.”

The toxicology tests, said Gormley, will help determine if there were contributing factors to the death of the women. “There could have been a number of things that were on board (in their bodies), so there’s a lot more to be determined yet.”

Following the initial call, police interviewed neighbors in the apartment building where they were found but they didn’t provide much information to assist the investigation.

The Lapeer Police Dept. welcomes information from the public that may assist in their investigation. Call 664-0833.

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